Sci-Hub Has Changed How We Access Knowledge

For a long time, important information has sat behind a paywall, and those who couldn't afford the toll were forced to find other ways to access research. But Alexandra Elbakyan, a researcher from Kazakhstan, changed all that when she created Sci-Hub. Simon Oxenham called her the Robin Hood of Science, and many would agree.

When Elbakyan was doing research to complete her studies, she told Oxenham, “Prices are very high, and that made it impossible to obtain papers by purchasing. You need to read many papers for research, and when each paper costs about 30 dollars, that is impossible.”

So, on September 5th, 2011, she created a site which bypasses these journal paywalls. Her efforts have been deemed heroic by many and criminal by the $10 billion industry who feeds off academic publishing.

Aaron Swartz sums up the academic publishing business nicely in this two minute video:

Sci-Hub has already amassed a library of over 47,000,000 papers and counting. “At this time the widest possible distribution of research papers, as well as of other scientific or educational sources, is artificially restricted by copyright laws.Such laws effectively slow down the development of science in human society.”

According to an article published in Science, Sci-Hub has had quite an impact. People all across the globe are downloading papers from the pirate site, not just in developing countries but on European and United States university campuses, as well. Some believe this trend indicates people are going to Sci-Hub more out of convenience than necessity.